Cycling

Cycling doping panel seeking testimonies

LONDON (AP)

The independent panel investigating doping in cycling hopes the
chance for reduced bans and even immunity will encourage witnesses
- including Lance Armstrong - to come forward.

Tasked with shedding more light on the sport's tainted past, the
three-man commission, which is also investigating whether cycling's
governing body colluded with Armstrong, has the power to propose
reduced sanctions against testimonies.

It has been set up with the approval of the World Anti-Doping
Agency and will be able to seal deals with cheats offering valuable
information.

''The reduced bans will obviously apply to people who have not
been already sanctioned,'' commission chairman Dick Marty told a
conference call on Tuesday, adding that immunity could also be
granted in some cases if the information is of ''great
importance.''

Armstrong has already been banned from Olympic sports for life
but can still hope his case will be reviewed if he gives
substantial information to the panel based in Lausanne,
Switzerland.

''For those who have already been punished and are still willing
to give important information, the commission can advise the
competent authorities to reconsider and shorten their bans,'' Marty
said.

The panel, which had a UCI-funded budget of 3 million Swiss
francs ($3.35 million) was a key element in the manifesto of Brian
Cookson, who was elected UCI president last year after defeating
Pat McQuaid. It started its work on Tuesday with the aim of
producing a comprehensive report within a year.

''It's not just about learning from the past, it's also learning
lessons for the future so we don't make the same mistakes,''
Cookson said.

The commission's main job is to determine how the culture of
doping was able to flourish within cycling and to ''discover the
main providers and facilitators of doping in cycling'' since the
Festina affair in 1998.

Armstrong has said he would cooperate with any international
commission on doping in cycling. He has so far refused to provide
sworn testimony to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, whose detailed
report in 2012 of drug use by Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team
led to him being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.

Cookson did not say whether Armstrong or former UCI presidents
Hein Verbruggen and McQuaid had been contacted by the commission
but added they would be more than welcomed.

The UCI and Verbruggen have been accused of protecting Armstrong
and helping cover up his doping. The American might be interested
in cooperating after telling a British newspaper last year that
Verbruggen helped him cover up doping at the 1999 Tour de France.
Verbruggen dismissed it as a ''ridiculous story.''

''There will an invitation to anyone who comes forward,''
Cookson said. ''To anybody, Lance Armstrong or anybody else. Please
come forward and offer your information to the commission. ... This
is a window of opportunity.''

Both Marty and Cookson said confidentiality will be granted to
witnesses but all the criminal offenses compiled will be
transmitted to the relevant authorities, whichever the country.
They added that negotiations will take place with possible
witnesses ahead of their testimonies in order to determine if the
information they can provide justifies a reduced ban.

''There can be preliminary discussions but until the evidence
has been heard it is impossible to determine the amount of sanction
reduction,'' Cookson said. ''The reduced sanctions will only apply
for the period that the commission is operating, and the danger is
other people will come forward. If anyone has something to hide now
is the time to come forward and tell all of the truth before
someone else comes and tells the truth about your activities.''

The other members of the commission are German anti-doping
expert Ulrich Haas and Peter Nicholson, a former Australian
military officer and war crimes investigator.

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